Refrigerating apparatus



March 31, 1931. H B H LL 1,798,262

REFRTGERATTNG APPARATUS Original Filed Feb. 25, 1924 invented g a z 3.

Patented Mar. 31,1931

UNITED STATES PATENT OF-FICE HARRY B. HULL, 0F DAYTON, OHIO, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO FRIGID- AIBE COBIORATION, A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE REFRIGEBATING APPARATUS Original application filed February 25, 1924, Serial No. 694,928. Divided and this application filed August 31,. 1927. Serial no. 216,755.

The present invention relates to improvements in refrigerating apparatus and more particularly to'the type of apparatusintended for household use and adapted for freezing ice cubes from water placed in trays in a suitable cooling unit in the refrigerator cabinet.

It is an object of the invention to provide means for releasing the ice cubes readily from the trays in which theyare frozen.

It is another object of the invention to provided means'for receiving the released ice cubes, the means used for releasing and receiving the ice constituting an improved method of and apparatusfor harvesting ice from a refrigerator.

This application is a division of my copending application, Serial No. 694,928, filed February 25, 1924:.

In the operation of household refrigerators of the mechanical type, trays filled with water 'are placed in compartments in the cooling unit, such trays being either provided with grid separators or composed of a number of joined individual cups so as to provide a plurality of ice cubes when the water freezes. No matter how smoothly the walls of the ice trays are polished or finished and how widely tapering the walls are constructed, considerable difliculty is always encountered in releasing the ice from the trays when desired for consumption. One of the methods generally adopted for effecting release of the ice consists in holding the tray inverted under a stream of relatively warm tap water, but this method is inconvenient and annoying. In accordance with the method described in my copending application above referred to, the tray of ice cubes may be inverted and placed in a portion of the cabinet where it is subjected to the action of a relatively warm medium. such as 'a current of relatively warm air which causes the cubes to melt slightly and drop out of the tray, a suitable receptacle being provided for holding them after their release.

In accordance with the present invention not only is an im roved means used for releasing the ice cu es but an increase of effipreferred form of 'ciency in the operation of the refrigerator drawings, wherein a Fig. 3 shows a cross sectional side view of Fig. 2, taken on the line 3-,3, Qf Fig. 2.

Referring in detail to the drawings the mechanically operated household refrigerator comprises a refrigerator cabinet 10 containing'a cooling unit 11 which. maybe supplied with refrigerant by means of pipes 12 and 13 connected with a motor driven compressor and condenser system 14. While the cooling unit 11 may be of any suitable type, the one chosen for illustrating the application of the invention, however, comprises a brine tank 15 which is cooled by the evaporation of refrigerant in the boiler or evaporator 16. It is obvious of course that any suitable type of cooling chamber may be used in lieu of the brine tank, as for example an air chamber formed of sheet metal walls surrounded by refrigerant-containing tubes connected to the boiler header 16. An expansion valve or othertype of refrigerant control may also be used in lieu of the header 16. The refrigerator is providedv with recesses or shelves 17 adapted to receive one or more ice trays 18 which in turn are divided by suitable partitions as above described so that the water or substance in the trays will be frozen into cubes 19 (see the relatively warm water in tray 18-a to the ice in tray 18 causes the ice to be loosened and released.

A suitable ice catching means may be provided, preferably in the form of a grid or screen 20, disposed below the tray 18. g The screen may be disposed at a slant and have a flange 21 at its lower end to retain the ice cubes in place. A drain board 22 may be provided below the screen and ma be also tilted so as readily to convey the away to suitable drain pipes, not shown.

By means of the method and means above described and illustrated, a supply of ice .cubes may be secured and kept constantly available in a very convenient manner.

While the inverted tray of ice and the tray of water are shown located byway of illustration in the cooling unit, it will be appreciated that they may be placed in thermal conducting relation to each other in any portion of the refrigerator cabinet without departing from the spirit of the invention.

While the form of embodiment of the invention as herein disclosed, constitutes a preferred form, it is to be understood that other forms might be adopted, all coming within the scope of the claims which follow.

lVhat is claimed is as follows:

1. In a mechanical referigerator;of the household t pe', the method of freezing a material and arvestin the same, comprising subjecting the materlal while in a receptacle first to exposure to a cold medium to cause congelation in said receptacle and then invertingsaid receptacle and placing thereupon and in good thermal contact therewith a similar receptacle containing material to be frozen whereby the frozen material is caused to be released from said receptacle in a congealed'state.

2. In a mechanical refrigerator of the household type, the method of freezing a material-and harvesting the same, comprising subjecting the material while in a receptacle first to exposure to a cold medium to cause congelation in said receptacle and then placing the materialwhile in the refrigerator in heat absorbing contact with other material to be frozen to transfer heat to the frozen material to release the same from its receptacle.

3. The method of obtaining blocks of frozen material which consists in freezing the material in a container, inverting the container placing a second container of liquid to be frozen in thermal contact with the first container and collectin the frozen material melted loose from the fI I'St container by heat absorbed from the second container.

4. The method of obtaining blocks of frozen material which consists in lacing liquid to be frozen in a container, placing the container in an u right position in the freezing chamber 0 a mechanical household rippings refrigerator until the liquid is frozen, inverting the container over an ice collecting device in the freezing chamber, and placing a second container of liquid to be frozen in thermal contact with the first container.

5. The method of pro-cooling liquid to be frozen in a mechanical household refrigerator which consists in placing the liquid in the container in which it is to be frozen, inverting a similar container of frozen material, and placin' the first container in thermal contact with t e second container until the frozen material in the second container drops from the second container.

6. The method of obtaining and storing blocks of frozen material which consists in placing the material to be frozen in a container, exposing the container to a freezing atmosphere until the material is frozen, inverting the container in the freezing atmosphere, placing in thermal contact with the container a mass whose temperature is higher than that of the frozen material, and collecting and storing in the freezing atmosphere the frozen material melted loose from the container by absorption of heat from said mass.

7. The method of obtaining and storing blocks of frozen material which consists in placing the material to be frozen in a container, exposing the container to a freezing atmosphere until the material is frozen, inverting the container in the freezing atmosphere, placing in thermal contact with the container a second container containing material to be frozen and collecting and storing in the freezing atmosphere the frozen mate rial melted loose from the container by absorption of heat from said material.

8. The method of obtaining and storing blo'cks of frozen material which consists in placing the material to be frozen in a container, exposing the container to a freezing atmosphere, placing a second container containing material to be frozen in an upright position on the bottom of said first container, and collecting and storing in the freezing atmosphere the frozen material melted loose from the container by absorption of heat from said material.

9. Refrigerating apparatus comprising in combination a freezing chamber and means in the chamber forming an open-bottomed container and an open-topped container in thermal contact with each other.

10. Refrigerating apparatus comprising in combination a freezing chamber and a pair of similar containers enclosed in said chamber, one of saidcontainers being upright and the other container being inverted and the bottoms of said containers being in contact.

11. Refrigerating apparatus comprisin in combination a freezing chamber, means within the chamber forming an open-bottomed container for frozen material and an opentopped container for liquid in contact there with, and means in the chamber below the open-bottomed container for collecting frozen material melted loose from the container by the heat of said liquid.

12. Refrigerating apparatus comprising in combination a freezing chamber, means wlthin the chamber forming an open-bottomed container for frozen material and an opentopped container for liquid in contact therewith, erforated harvesting means below the openottomed container and means below the perforated means for carrying ofi liquid formed incident to the melting loose fromthe containerof said frozen material.

13. Refrigerating apparatuscomprising in combination a freezln chamber, a perforated ice harvesting shelf within the freezing chamher, and means below the shelf for conducting out of the freezing chamber liquid formed incident to the harvesting of ice.

14. Refrigerating apparatus comprising in combination a freezing chamber, a perforated ice harvesting shelf within the chamber,

means below the shelf for carryin out of the freezing chamber liquid formed mcident to the harvesting of ice, means above the shelf for holding an inverted ice container.

15. Refrigerating'apparatus comprising in combination a freezing chamber, a perforated ice harvesting shelf within the chamber, means below the shelf for carryin out of the freezing chamber liquid formed incident to the harvesting of ice, means above the shelf 36 for holding an inverted ice container, said chamber extending a sufiicient distance above said means to receive a second container in thermal contact with said first mentioned container.

40 16. The method of obtaining blocks of frozen material which consists in freezing the material in a container, inverting the container, placing in thermal contact with the container, a mass of material to be frozen whose temperature is higher than that of the frozen material, and collecting the frozen material melted loose from the container by heat absorbed from the mass of material to be frozen. I

In testimony whereof I hereto aflix my signature.

HARRY B. HULL. 

